GREENSBORO, N.C. -- A tip of the cap goes to Asylum members gary_oshell and hhislandgirl in Saturday's live file for the inspiration to this commentary to get us set up for Pitt's ACC Tournament second-round game Wednesday here in Greensboro.
"A great season," Gary wrote. "At the beginning all the talk was how many (Jeff) Capel had to win to keep his job. Most thought he'd be fired. It was a fantastic year and there is still the tournament. I like this team a lot, and I think I'll be liking next years even better."
As Island Girl penned: "What a fantastic regular season. We never could have anticipated this 3 months ago."
There are, obviously, more than just these two comments made with the same or similar tones about this Pitt team, but these two in particular caught my eye as they were posted in the live file moments after Pitt's loss to Miami went final.
And, I have to agree with every word of those. And with shared tones. Those tones which carry No. 5-seed Pitt into its second-round ACC Tournament matchup with No. 13 Georgia Tech at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday at Greensboro Coliseum.
The ACC Coach of the Year certainly shares the same sentiment regarding those tones. That plane ride from Miami is not a short one, by any measurement. That time to decompress can also allow for a time of reflection.
Capel had a few hours to allow for his players to recollect in moment.
"We didn't feel great, but we were proud of the effort, and we've moved on," Capel said Monday. "Now it's into the postseason."
It is more than acceptable and nearly expected to feel both of these simultaneously: Bothered by Saturday, and excitement for Wednesday.
Any fan would be bothered to a certain level about Pitt's inability to live up to the stakes which it had to play for in Saturday's game at Miami: A share of the regular-season ACC championship and the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament beginning next week in Greensboro, N.C.
But, at the same time, this run Pitt is on was totally unforeseen by many, including by myself and a good chunk of you reading this. That is what makes this exciting to a certain level, because Pitt has something to play for again, as opposed to running through quicksand throughout the first four years of Capel's tenure as Pitt did.
Let's forget the preseason polls. Let's forget those four years. Let's focus on the now.
The "now" is certainly being focused on by the Panthers, who were called into a players-only meeting Monday by their captain and calming voice.
"For us, it's just about what we've done all year," first-team All-ACC guard Jamarius Burton said. "Taking advantage of the opportunity in front of us, and for us that's taking one game at a time. This is a good experience for us to be able to do it, in the ACC Tournament. I'm not really thinking about it as far as, 'oh, this is my last tournament, personally,' it's about us winning."
Pitt has never done as much winning under Capel as it is now. The 21 wins are five more than Capel's previous best at Pitt, the 14 ACC wins are more than double Capel's best, and this team is in line to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016, so long as it wins Wednesday. (Even if it loses, perhaps.)
Adding in a comment made by Asylum member musicman from Saturday: "Disappointing last couple of games. Expectations may have been too high after the run but there is still the playoffs to do some damage."
Both can be true.
When a team gets as much talk about making the NCAA Tournament as it has, all while holding on to the top spot in a power conference like the ACC into the final week of its regular season, expectations are allowed to grow. Pitt showed all of the markings of a winning team in earning statement victory after statement victory throughout the season.
Wins over NC State, Northwestern, Virginia, North Carolina (twice!), Wake Forest, and Miami, and uprooting longtime rival Syracuse twice. That all matters.
Perhaps it mattered just a bit more after Pitt started 1-3 and got trounced by West Virginia and Michigan way back in November. If it does, then that should be embraced.
All of this can be embraced. But, so can the feeling of something being left out there in terms of having that "ACC regular-season co-champion" tag to go along with the name.
But, make no mistake, banner or no banner, Capel loves his players, and his players love playing for him.
"The work that he's put in and the commitment that he's showed and the type of energy and positivity that he's had, not only this year, but last year when it was rough," Burton said. "You see him take that same mindset and make some improvements and be able to implement it here, and us to be able to do what we've done this year. He deserves that accolade (as Coach of the Year)."
I have had -- and still am having -- an absolute blast covering this team and getting to know these players which are proudly doing the history of Pitt basketball justice. Nelly Cummings is a hometown hero and should be revered for coming back to close his career with the mission of delivering and representing his city (and, not to mention, bringing his younger brother, Brandin Cummings, along with him as a top-notch 2024 recruit). Burton fought through knee injuries and his own adversity on his way to becoming an All-ACC player in his swan-song season. Blake Hinson oozes fun and brings an exceptional amount of passion and energy with every play. Greg Elliott brings a swagger to this group. Federiko Federiko was a castaway transfer recruited by Bob Huggins at West Virginia before Capel and Tim O'Toole scooped him up and developed him rapidly into one of the ACC's best centers as a true sophomore.
This team is loaded with postseason experience. Capel has coached in an Elite Eight, and Cummings and Burton have played in the NCAA Tournament. Not to mention, this team is one of the oldest in college basketball and has an inherent advantage with that experience.
"The experience matters, especially now, understanding that it's win or go home," Burton said. "It just comes down to who's going to play harder and smarter, and all of us have that experience. We look forward to coming together and putting that on display on the floor."
There are the role players, like ACC Sixth Man of the Year Nike Sibande, whose own journey is Hollywood in and of itself after tearing his ACL last year. Guillermo and Jorge Diaz Graham are growing up by the game. Manager-turned-walk-on-turned-scholarship-player Aidan Fisch gave us one of the college basketball season's most unforgettable moments with his bucket on Senior Night against Syracuse. Nate Santos has shown the ability to produce in moments as he continues to learn and grow. KJ Marshall brings the flair and the pizzazz as a walk-on with his energy.
And, that does not even begin to note who isn't here. No Dior Johnson, no, Will Jeffress, and no John Hugley IV, for one reason or another.
"Not a lot of people have talked about that with us this year," Capel said. "It's interesting, I was thinking about that earlier (Monday) morning, I was talking to a friend of mine about it. You try to figure out your team and start to figure it out. I think we got to that where John got injured, Dior's situation, Will was never with us during practice but there was thought that maybe we could get him back. We didn't really start to develop our identity with this group until around October 9. I think that's when all these things happened and things like that, and so it took us a little bit of time to figure out who we were and who we had to become with three guys that you thought would have a significant role in the rotation.
"I think Will, coming into the season, I thought he would be our best defender and most versatile defender. He was playing really well this summer. He had worked, his body's changed. You forget that he was just 17. I thought he was going to have a pretty significant role for us.
"Certainly, John. John was the guy we tried to build everything around, and he was integral part of helping us get these guys. When he got hurt and decided to take a break, and then Dior, obviously, is talented, I think it's a testament to our guys. How they continued to fight, how they continued to show up, how they continued to work, and we had to figure things out pretty quickly. We took some lumps to do it, but we were able to keep fighting and figure it out."
This team has every likable quality possible about it, which makes it easy to get behind from all perspectives as a fan, casual observer, or if you're a reporter like myself.
The best thing about sports, in my eyes, is how sports makes us feel. Whether that feeling comes from a positive tone or a negative tone. More often than not those negative tones give us hope in some form for more positives to grow.
Capel had to go through a lot of negatives to get to the positives. What Pitt is doing right now, in spite of missing the mark on the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament, is a positive. This team is a positive. It will be a positive to look back on. It will be a positive to build upon for the foreseeable future.
Everything is in front of Pitt. Still.
For now, though, welcome to March.